Top 25 DVDs for Aspiring Filmmakers

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Why go to film school when you can go to the video store instead?

By Scott Collura

As the new Fox reality series On the Lot has reminded us, there are lots of ways to break into the moviemaking business, some more glamorous than others. Start in the trenches of a Hollywood mailroom somewhere and work your way up, or go to film school and make an award-winning thesis film. Try hitting up your uncle, the studio exec, for a job. Or just rely on good old hard work and good fortune Whatever way you choose to go, though, there's no denying that any aspiring filmmaker needs to know his craft so that when his or her big break comes, they'll be ready to strike. And nothing serves as a better filmmaking nursemaid nowadays than DVD, the amazing home video format that offers tons and tons of free advice on the hows, whys, and what-nots of filmmaking, all via extra features like audio commentaries, making-of documentaries, and more.So before you leave for USC or phone up Uncle Harvey, check out IGN's guide to the top 25 DVDs for aspiring filmmakers. We'll be running five new entries every day this week, so be sure to keep checking back for updates straight from the IGN lot!

Day Five

1. Citizen Kane (1941)Director: Orson WellesDVD Label: Warner Bros.Key Extras: Two audio commentaries; The Battle Over Citizen Kane documentaryThe Film: Deemed by many critics to be the greatest American film ever made, Orson Welles' feature directorial debut is undeniably one of the greatest with its technical and storytelling innovations. Welles also produced and co-wrote the film, as well as starred as the enigmatic title character, a Hearst-type magnate who just can't get past that whole Rosebud thing.Lesson Plan: Sure, Citizen Kane is an obvious pick to make the number one slot on our list of top 25 DVDs for aspiring filmmakers, but nonetheless, the fact remains: If you don't know the masters of the form, you really shouldn't be mucking about with a camera until you do. It's like the art student who has to take art history when all he or she wants to do is paint. Well, fortunately for you wannabe filmmakers, watching movies like Citizen Kane is a lot more fun than sitting through Art Criticism 101.So the film is required viewing, of course, but the DVD's extras are as well, starting with the audio commentary from film critic Roger Ebert. For older films like this, when the folks who actually made the movie aren't around anymore, film historian commentaries can be enlightening but they can also be stodgy and too intellectual. Fortunately, the hugely knowledgeable Ebert is enough of an everyman's film scholar that he can talk about Kane in depth without sounding dry, and in the process he's able to explain to all the naysayers out there why exactly the film has been deemed to be one of the greatest ever. So no more of that "They say Citizen Kane is like the best movie ever, but I don't know " talk. Another commentary from Peter Bogdanovich, a filmmaker himself and friend to and expert on Welles, is also instructive, and between the two tracks, no Kane stone is left unturned.Other bits and pieces pepper the DVD set, including the documentary The Battle Over Citizen Kane, which is about the struggle Welles faced with William Randolph Hearst, the real-life figure on which the Kane character was supposedly based. While the Hearst story doesn't necessarily apply for our instructive purposes, the aspects of the doc that pertain to the making of Kane -- and the making of Welles himself -- are quite revealing. And as a sidebar on Welles, who was a wunderkind director at this point of his career, check our earlier entry on F for Fake, which is a lesson of a very different kind for filmmakers of all ages.Ultimately, Citizen Kane's greatest lesson to us is that a filmmaker must be aware of what has come before in film if he or she is going to incorporate that knowledge into his work and -- hopefully -- expand on it. This list of 25 entries is just the beginning. There are many, many more important films and DVDs out there that are just waiting to teach you a thing or two if you'll let them.